Laurie Buxton
Mathematics for
Everyone, Introduction, p. ix.
"Regrettably, many of us have never been allowed to
see what mathematics is. It has been obscured by pointless emphasis on routines
rather than ideas. This failure to distinguish what is important has led many
people to see mathematics as a collection of totally arbitrary rules which have
to be learnt by rote, and performed with the exactness and precision of a
religious rite. Ask a person if there is much to remembered in mathematics; if
they speak of an overwhelming mass of material, their education in this area has
been counter-productive, not merely neutral."
Posted: Mon - November 17, 2003 at 11:28 PM